


Bracelet

by nerdyanddisney



Category: The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: Hurt/Comfort, Jealousy, fight
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-08
Updated: 2020-08-16
Packaged: 2021-03-05 22:15:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,912
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25792714
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nerdyanddisney/pseuds/nerdyanddisney
Summary: Requested on Tumblr
Relationships: Diego Hargreeves/Reader
Kudos: 90





	1. Chapter 1

It wasn’t like Diego to be this clingy. Ever since his father’s death, he started spending every moment he could with you. You chalked it up to be some sort of existential crisis, especially when he asked, “What would you do if you knew the world was ending in less than a week?”

You furrowed your eyebrows. “I don’t know. I guess I wouldn’t do anything differently.”

“The whole world is ending, and you aren’t going to do anything different,” he asked in disbelief.

“Fine, I’ll play your game. I’d spend more time with you.” You punctuated your sentence with a quick kiss. ”Now, shh. This is my favorite part.” You settled back into his chest and turned your attention back to the screen.

“I’ll spend more time with you, too,” he whispered into your hair. 

He kept to his promise, going so far as to drag you with him into a portal to God knows where with much protest from his siblings. The last thing you remember before crashing to the ground was Diego telling you he loved you.

Now, you sit on a rather stiff couch, while the man who graciously let you live with him. He goes on and on about a secret alien race, ‘just like you’. You nod. It was easier to tell him what he wanted to hear than to try to do anything about it.

Luckily, Five showed up not too long after you. He explained everything, from the last apocalypse to this one. While he went off to find his siblings, he left you to listen to one of Elliott’s crazy rants.

“I got an update on another one of them. Escaped from the mental hospital,” Elliott says, as he tosses the newspaper in your direction. “Know him?”

You gasp when you see the picture. “Diego.” Your voice is barely more than a whisper.

“You know him,” Elliott presses. “He’s like you.”

You ignore him. Diego is here. He’s alive, and he’s here. His hair is much longer than it was, but he still looked exactly the same. “Oh, God. I have to find him.” You threw the paper back to Elliott before grabbing your shoes. “How far away should he be?”

He doesn’t have time to answer before you are out the door. “My God, Diego. What the hell have you gotten yourself into?” you wonder, heading down the street. You don’t have much time to wonder before you see him sitting in a definitely stolen car. You shout his name, causing him to turn to you. As soon as he sees you, he clambers out of the car. 

“(Y/N)!” The joy on his face is unmistakable. Though, you don’t get to see it for long, as he immediately wraps his arms around you, pulling you as close to you as he can, before kissing you. When he pulls away, he holds your face in his hands. “You’re here.”

That’s all it takes for you to start crying. Every emotion the two of you have felt since arriving comes pouring out of you. He gently brushes away your tears, ignoring his own. You almost forgot how good it feels to be in his arms, to just be with him. 

Unfortunately, you don’t get to stay there for long. A woman, who you hadn’t noticed in the car earlier, clears her throat. “Are you going to introduce me to your friend?”

“Fuck off,” Diego groans. 

“You’re no fun,” she pouts.

Diego rolls his eyes. “Killed the mood, didn’t she?”

You chuckle. “A little, but God, is it good to see you again.” You look passed him to the girl in the car. “I’m (Y/N).”

“Oh, so you’re (Y/N). I was starting to think he truly was insane.”

You give Diego an inquisitive look, which he dismisses. “I was in there for a while. I could only think about you. Where were you?”

You explain where you were and everything that Five had told you, to which Diego can only respond with, “Again?”

“Looks like you gotta be a hero again.”  
“So you’re where he gets it from?” the woman interjects.

Diego closes his eyes. It takes all of his self-control not to snap. “Lila-” Luckily for her, Five manages to find you before he has a chance to finish his sentence.

“See you’re pulling your weight around here, (Y/N).” He turns his attention to his brother, “And you are making my life incredibly difficult. Now let’s get you inside before someone sees you.” He turns on his heel and heads back toward Elliott’s.

“Ooh! I’m coming, too!” Lila says, hopping out of the car. Before anyone has a chance to stop her, she bounds up the steps. “Well, you comin’?”

You shrug and lead Diego into the building, but not before stealing another kiss. By the time you get in, Elliott is screaming at Five about the film he asked him to about earlier. Five, rather uninterested in the whole conversation, allows Lila to knock Elliott out before instructing you to tie him up while Five sets up the projector to watch the “Frankel Footage”.

You and Diego are too wrapped up in, well, each other to pay attention to the film. However, when you hear the gunshot, you both turn your attention to the screen. 

“Is the guy with the umbrella…” you trail off, uncertain of if you really want to accuse your boyfriend’s father of murder.

“Dad,” Five and Diego say in unison. 

“What the hell was that?” Lila asks, backing away. “What the hell was that?”

None of you know how to explain what happened. When you don’t answer immediately, she rushes off to hide in the makeshift darkroom. 

“I’ll go calm her down,” Diego says.

“(Y/N), help me find Dad,” Five commands.

“We’re just gonna leave him?” You point to Elliot.

“We’ll just be in the next room.”

You nod and grab the phonebook. You flip through the ‘H’s. “No Hargreeves. Any other suggestions?”

“D.S. Manufacturing.” He moves to look over your shoulder. “There it is! Diego and I are going to see if we can get anything out of him. You need to stay here either to calm down Elliott or Lila. I’m not sure who needs your help more.”

You nod. “Be careful.”

“I will be. You may want to tell your boyfriend that.”

“I will.” You walk over to the closet. “D, we found him.”

“I’ve got to go, Lila. Family thing,” he explains to her before turning his attention back to you. “She’s starting to get some of it. Just keep her sane.”

“I will. You be careful.”

He rolls his eyes. “I always am.”

“Yeah. It’s not like I’ve ever had to stitch you back together right before I go to work.”

He kisses the top of your head. “I’ll be careful. Promise.” He holds his pinkie out, something the two of you started doing early in your relationship.

You lock yours with his. “I can’t lose you again.”

“You won’t. You’re stuck with me.”

“Good. Now, go, be a hero.”

He kisses you again before heading out the door. 

Once he leaves, you tell Lila that you are going to make something to eat since she probably hasn’t had anything. She just nods, obviously uncomfortable with you. Eventually, hunger wins, and she comes into the kitchen with you.

“Y’know,” she says between mouthfuls of pancakes, “I thought that that man was insane -- daddy issues and all that -- but now,” the rest of her sentence is drowned out by the food. “So, what’ the deal with you?”

“What do you mean?”

“He just kept telling anyone who would listen about how great you are, how much he missed you, all that shit. So, what’s so great about you?”

You grip your glass a little tighter and plaster a smile onto your face. “I-”

“Not that it matters. You never bothered to look for him.” You try not to let her get to you. You try to be the bigger person, but as soon as she says, “Besides, we were basically a thing at the hospital. Why else would he take me with him? He even made me this bracelet.” She waves her wrist adorned with a string of beads in front of your face.

“Quite a shitty bracelet,” you respond, taking her empty plate from her. Once you turn around, you mutter, “He made me his girlfriend.”

“Oh yeah. Seems to be working well for you. You couldn’t even be bothered to-” Something takes control over you. You slap her as if on instinct. Surprisingly, she seems rather unphased, coming back at you twice as hard. You try everything Diego taught you, but it doesn’t seem to be enough. It’s almost like she grew up in a bootcamp.

Just as she moves to hit you again, the door opens, and Five whistles. “As wonderful as it is to see you two bonding, your boyfriend needs some help.” 

She hits you one last time before running down the stairs. You follow her to a horribly wounded, but conscious, Diego. 

“Fuck,” you both say.

“I’m fine,” Diego says.

You roll your eyes. “Stand straight.”

He tries but fails. “Fine. Patch me up, Doc.”

You take his shirt off and lead him to the couch. You inspect the wound, which doesn’t seem to be too serious.

“I need disinfectant, bandages, some clean cloths, water, and some sort of painkiller,” you instruct. Lila and Five get to work gathering what you need, while you stay with Diego.

“Seems like I should have warned you to be careful,” he jests.

“I’m not the one bleeding out on a stranger’s couch,” you counter.

“You were the one almost pushed over a banister.”

You keep your eyes trained on his stomach, looking for any other scratches.

“You gonna tell me what happened?”

“It was nothing. I was being stupid.”

“No shit.” He laughs bitterly. “You can either tell me now, or I’ll ask her.”

“All out of painkillers,” Five interrupts, “but I’ve got everything else. Lila is untying Elliott.”

You thank him before telling him to go supervise her. Once he leaves, you get to work and hope that Diego has forgotten about the fight.

“You’re really not going to tell me?” he finally asks once you’ve cleaned most of the blood.

“You’re going to laugh.” You put some rubbing alcohol on the wound, causing him to hiss.

“I’m not much of a laugher.”

You roll your eyes. “Fine. I was jealous.”

As if to prove you right, he laughs. After an unamused look from you, he stops. “Sorry, but why? You know I love you.”

“I know.” You throw the cloth onto the couch. “I know. She was just talking about being with you and the bracelet and-”

“(Y/N), that bracelet is shit!”

“I know! I just -- I guess I just thought -- I thought I lost you, and the thought of you having this life that I couldn’t be a part of killed me. I know it’s stupid and selfish, but I just didn’t want you to have moved on so fast.” You didn’t realize you were crying until you feel Diego wipe away a tear. 

“I will never move on from you. I love you, (Y/N), and I will make you a million bracelets to show you that. You have nothing to worry about.” He kisses you gently, ignoring the pain in his side. “I love you, and if we were back home, at our home, I’d show you.” You smile slightly. “Thatta girl. I told you, you’re stuck with me.”

“Good.”

You finish patching him up in silence. He has quite a few bruises that will still be there for a while, but there’s not much you can do about them. Since he doesn’t feel up to walking upstairs, the two of you stay on the couch. With Diego next to you, you sleep soundly for the first time since you came here, but he can’t stop his mind from reeling.

He feels horrible about everything that happened. He just wishes that he could have been there as soon as you first became jealous to hold you and tell you that you had absolutely nothing to worry about. He can’t stop thinking about the bracelet. You both know that the bracelet is the least of your worries, but something about it keeps eating at him. He suddenly gets an idea.

He climbs off of the couch, careful not to wake you, and moves over to the pile of cloth. He digs through the pile, looking for some sliver of white fabric in the pile, but he comes up empty. Instead, he grabs one and washes it until the water runs clear. He rips it into three small strips and begins braiding it the way he’s seen you and his sisters do a million times. When it somewhat resembles a bracelet, he ties it around your wrist, cutting it so that it fits perfectly.

When he tries to lay back down next to you, his elbow knocks against you, causing you to wake up. “Diego?”

“Yes, doll?”

“What’re you doing up?”

“I wanted to make up for earlier.”

“Diego-” You move your hand up to rest on his cheek, but you stop when you see the cloth. “What’s this?”

“I thought you deserved your own bracelet. This one is a bit more personal, though, not some mandatory arts and crafts project.”

You examine it. It’s lumpy and poorly braided and a rather ugly bronze color. “Where did you get this?”

“Before you freak out, I cleaned it.”

“You got it from that pile, didn’t you?”

He nods sheepishly, feeling rather foolish for thinking that you would like a blood-colored bracelet. “I’m sor-”

“I love it, and I love you.”

“I love you, too.”

You curl back into him, laying the arm with the bracelet on his chest where you can both see it.


	2. Blazer

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Requested on tumblr

You look over yourself for what must be the thousandth time. The dress is absolutely gorgeous, and you don’t want to question where it came from. It fits you perfectly, showing just enough that you know it will drive Diego wild but not enough that you will draw too much attention to yourself at the gala.

You look absolutely stunning, but you can’t help feel like something is off. It isn’t until you brush your hair out of your face for the last time that the bracelet catches your eye. The bloody cloth seems so odd next to the satin dress. It’s loose enough now that you can roll it off your wrist with ease. You gently place it on your stack of clothes before Diego knocks on the door. “We’ve got to leave soon.” He pushes open the door, letting out a low whistle. “We’ve got some time.” He wraps his arms around you before kissing your neck.

You squirm out of his grasp. “I know you’d like the dress. Now let’s get going.” 

As you turn to leave, Diego playfully grabs your arm. Once his fingers touch your wrist, where he’s grown used to feeling the bracelet. “Where’s your bracelet?”

“I thought that it would look suspicious to have a bloodstained bracelet,” you explain, still trying to leave.

“(Y/N), I made you that bracelet to show you I love you, and you can’t wear it for an evening?” 

“It’s no big deal. I just didn’t want to draw too much attention to us. I’ll put it on when we get back.”

“Oh, so you can wear a dress like that but you can’t wear a little bracelet?”

You put your hands on his shoulders. “Diego, just calm down. We-”

“Calm down! Because you’re the queen of being calm.”

You roll your eyes. “We don’t have time to do this now. Let’s get going before Five yells at us.”

He pushes past you and out of the room, not giving you a second look. You follow quickly behind him. The four of you gather just outside the door as Five explains the plan one last time. You notice how perfectly Diego’s tie matches Lila’s dress, and you suddenly can’t seem to think about anything else. The entire trip from Elliott’s to the gala is filled with uncomfortable tension and angry stares. As soon as you walk into the building, you head to the bar, planning to camp out there while Diego gets himself into trouble. 

It isn’t until you see three blond men rush upstairs that you move from your spot. You reach through the slit in your dress and pull the knife from your grater. You know that it won’t do much good, but it will stall them for a bit. You see that Lila is already there. When she rushes off to help Five, you can’t help but roll your eyes. You didn’t particularly want her to help Diego, but you also didn’t want to have to be the one to help him. 

You toss your knife through the air, chopping off one of the men’s ears and pinning it to the wall. The distraction is just enough for him to let go of Diego, who races toward the other man. It doesn’t take long before he’s able to push him out of the window and into the bushes, leaving you to deal with the third brother.

The amount of blood loss and pain coming from his left side makes him an easy opponent. Though, he does manage to get a few good scratches at you before you push him out of the window that Diego had just broken. 

Instead of thanking you for saving his life, he pulls the knife out of the wall and hands it back to you. “You missed.”

You roll your eyes. “I was trying not to kill you, too. It’s almost like your girlfriend loves you or something.” You move around your dress and stash the knife back in your garter. When you bend over, the strap of your dress falls off, and you realize that the man must have cut it while you were fighting. You are just glad that it was just your dress. “Let’s get going before you attract any more murders.” You pretend not to notice the way Diego scans your body, as you leave.

When you get outside, you notice Five and Lila already out there. “Look good for a fight like that,” you comment.

He snorts. “Yeah, so do you. Now fix your dress before we attract any more attention.”

“Shit,” you mutter, pulling at the strap.

“Here,” Diego says from behind you, tossing his blazer. “I may be pissed, but I still love you.”

“Talk when we get back?”

He nods, wrapping his blazer tightly around you, and you feel like you are finally getting somewhere.


	3. Braids

The two of you spend most of the trip back without talking to each other. Once the others have occupied themselves with trying to understand what happened, Diego pulls you into the bathroom where the evening started.

“I’m sorry about earlier, I just-”

“I know,” you cut him off, wrapping your arms around him. “I know. We good?”

He kisses the top of your head. “We good. Now put the bracelet back on.”

You nod, reaching over to your stack of clothes. When you don’t feel the bracelet on top, you stiffen. Surely, it just fell off, right? It’s not like you could have lost it. It was right there when you left. “Actually, I’ve got to pee, so…”

He chuckles. “Alright. I’ve got to help Five anyway.”

You gently push him out of the room and shut the door. Once he’s out, you begin looking everywhere for the bracelet. You tear apart the entire room looking for that bloody cloth. Once you finally give up, you pull on the sweater that you had worn earlier and pull the sleeves down over your wrists. Hopefully, you will be able to find the bracelet without Diego finding out what happened. After a few steadying breaths, you pull yourself out of the bathroom and into the living room.

As soon as Diego sees you, he pulls you into his lap, earning a glare from Lila and a rather disgusted look from Five. Too tired from the night out and the fight, you lay your head on Diego’s shoulder and ignore most of what they are saying. Eventually, the two of them get fed up and leave the room, leaving you and Diego alone at the table.

“You seem tired,” he observes.

“That’s ‘cause I am,” you answer through a yawn.

He picks you up, bringing you over to the couch where you spent the night before. He gently lays you down before laying down next to you. You twist your fingers in his hair, enjoying the feeling of having his long hair between your fingers. He quietly moans at the sensation.

“Can I braid it?”

He turns to give you a quizzical look.

“Can I braid it?” you repeat.

“Do whatever you want, baby.” He lays back down, letting you play with his hair. You twist the strands into a few braids that are significantly better than the braid in the bracelet he gave you. Shit, the bracelet. You halt your movements at the idea of your bracelet. You hope that he hasn’t noticed, but of course, he has.

“Why’d you stop?”

“D, I have something to tell you,” you confess.

“What is it?”

“I think I lost the bracelet. I’ve been looking for it, and I’ll look for it in the morning, but I-”

“Breathe,” he instructs before reacting to what you said. “Just breathe.” Once you’ve calmed down a bit, he reacts. “It’s not in the bathroom?”

“No. I am so sorry. I thought I left it on my clothes, but it wasn’t there when we came back,” you explain.

He holds your face in his hands. “We can look for it in the morning. I’m sure Elliott saw it, assumed it was trash and threw it away. We can ask him in the morning.”

“You aren’t mad.”

“I think I used all of my ‘mad’ up this evening. We’ll fix it, (Y/N/N). I promise.” He gently kisses you. “We good?”

“We good.”

You curl yourself into his chest. “I’m sorry.”

“I know,” he whispers into your hair. “I know.”

When you wake up, the two of you are in the same position. You gently pull yourself from his arms and off of the couch. You can’t help but smile when you notice that the braids that you put in last night are still there. As you’re admiring his hair, you notice another braid under his head. You bend down, getting a closer look at it. It’s the bracelet! It’s that poorly braided bloody piece of cloth that you never thought you would be happier to see it. Without thinking, you pull it out from under him, accidentally grabbing a piece of hair.

“Fuck!” Diego exclaims, waking up. “You weren’t that rough last night.”

“Sorry, sorry, but look what I found!” You wave the bracelet in front of his face. “You were sleeping on it!”

He slides it on your wrist before hugging you. “Just so you know, I love you. With or without the bracelet.”

“I know, and I love you, too. But I’m not letting this out of my sight ever again.”


End file.
